I’m looking forward to seeing a good turnout for our
spring meeting in Middlebury on April 9, 2011 at the
Ilsley Library. It will be good to share in the progress
since our fall meeting.

Ron Bechard has been investigating some serious dam-
age to bracing members of the Poland Covered Bridge.
Evidently the damage occurred late last October. He has
submitted documentary photos and a copy of an article
from a local paper.

The pre-construction meeting for rehabilitation of the
Gifford Covered Bridge (in Randolph) will be held on
2/16. This project will start this Spring.

Our Annual Spring Meeting will be held 10 a.m.
to 12 p.m., on April 9, 2011 at the Ilsley Library
Meeting Room.
The speaker will be Ray Hitchcock. "The
topic will be a Vermont covered bridge tour by mo-
tor cycle.
Ray is the editor of the VCBS newsletter,
The Bridger and is the Bridge-watch for the Rock-
ingham Area.

Meeting Agenda
10:00 a.m. Welcome
10:05 a.m. Business Meeting
11:15 a.m. Break and Drawing
11:30 a.m. The speaker
12:00 p.m. Adjourn
- The meeting is open to all.
- Snack will be provided during the meeting.
- Attendees are asked to bring items for the drawing. The
receipts will go to the Save-A-BridgeProgram
- Lunch on own at restaurants nearby.
- After adjournment, attendees are free to visit the three
local covered bridges
- For overnight accommodations, call the Middlebury
Chamber of Commerce for a list of area lodgings. The
phone number is 1-802-388-7951

Spring Meeting Directions

The meeting is in the public room of the Ilsley Library
(go to rear, take ramp to downstairs room).
Because there is a new bridge connecting down-
town Middlebury with Route 7, there is a new way to
reach the parking area that serves the library. The road to
the parking area comes off the south side of the west end
(downtown end) of the bridge and goes under the bridge
to the parking spaces. Since the upper level spaces have a
two-hour limit, it would be best to use the lower level
spaces.
Coming from the north on Route 7, go through
downtown, get on the roundabout at 6 o’clock, leave it at
about 9 o’clock but do not enter the bridge, instead take
the road to the right which leads under the bridge to the
municipal parking lot, which is the .lower lot. behind
the library.
Coming from the south on Route 7, proceed
across the bridge and immediately at the end of the
bridge and on the right is the entrance to the upper level
parking lot behind the library.

Rockingham officials are concerned about the costs
surrounding a new fire sensor installed at the Worrall
Bridge – photo R Hitchcock fall 2010

Rockingham, December 30, 2010 - When the state of-
fered to modernize the historic Worrall Covered Bridge,
it might have been a little too modern for the town of
Rockingham.
The Rockingham Select board is questioning a
$100 monthly charge that the Vermont Agency of Transportation says the town owes for a new fire security system that was installed when the bridge was rehabilitated
this year.
Interim Municipal Manager Francis "Dutch"
Walsh told the Select board at its last meeting that he
received a call from transportation agency project manager Mark Sargent about the monthly fee, which Sargent
explained will be paid to a security company that will
run the fire protection service.
"When I first got the call, it came as a total surprise to me," Walsh told the Reformer on Tuesday. "We
knew the work was done but I have not been able to find
a record of it anywhere. I have not seen anything that
said there would be a fee for the electrical fire protection
system."
The 87-foot Worrall Covered Bridge was built in
1868 and spans the Williams River, just off of Route 103
in Bartonsville.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation an-
nounced in 2008 that the bridge would receive almost $1
million in repairs, and between the spring of 2009 and
the summer of 2010 the bridge was completely renovated. The bridge received a new roof *and new bottom
chords and many parts of the siding and lattice work
were replaced.
In the end, the state spent about $800,000 on the
bridge, and Agency of Transportation Spokesman John
Zicconi said the town has to keep up its end of the bargain by paying for the fire protection system. "VTrans
believes this kind of alarm is prudent to help protect this
historic resource and investment," Zicconi said in an email. "The town, during the project's development,
agreed, and we installed one. But being a town-owned
bridge it is the town's responsibility to maintain and pay
for the system once the project is complete." He said it
is a relatively new stipulation to have towns take on the
monthly fees, and said every covered bridge is unique
and requires its own safety and protection considerations.
Zicconi said that even though the state paid for
100 percent of the renovations with state and federal
money, the town owns the bridge and the state is trying
to complete the paperwork to close the project. As part
of that process the town of Rockingham has to provide
contact information and agree to take on the $1,200 in
annual fees to keep the fire protection system active.
"As part of the agreement regarding the Worrall
Covered Bridge, the town of Rockingham agreed to
properly maintain and protect the bridge, which includes
a fire alarm system" said Zicconi. "While VTrans is not
in the business of policing day-to-day how well towns
live up to their agreement, we do assume that the town
will take its agreement with us seriously and do what it
can to properly maintain and protect the considerable
investment that is made when we rehabilitate a covered
bridge."
The bridge contract was signed by former Municipal Manager Jim Mullen, but Walsh said he has not
found any documents that say the town would be on the
hook for the fire protection system.
At the Select board meeting last week, board
member Ann DiBernardo said it might make sense to
invest in some kind of protection for the historic structure. "These are irreplaceable structures," she said. "We
should do something to protect them.
But the other board members seemed less willing
to invest the taxpayers' money in the system.
Select board Chairman Tom MacPhee wondered what
even the best alarm system could do if the wooden structure caught fire. "What are the odds of this alarm saving
it anyway," said MacPhee. "It doesn't make sense to
spend $1,200 on a system that may or may not be effec
tive."

*[NOTICE: This article is copyrighted and appears here
with the permission of writer Howard Weiss-Tisman.
Our thanks to him, the Brattleboro Reformer and to Tony
and Neil Daniels for forwarding this story - Ed.]

* {editors note—The bridge received a new roof on an earlier
project. It was old enough to have a few leaks which were noticed and reported by the local Bridge Watcher.}

Spanning Time: Vermont's Covered Bridges features 102
color photographs of Vermont's covered bridges in fifteen chapters, each a guided tour. The tours are complete
with maps, commentary on the uniqueness of each
bridge, and historic highlights about the towns and villages in which the bridges are found.
An appendix provides: A Summary of Vermont's Cov-
ered Bridges, listing vital information on each bridge; A
Covered Bridge Glossary, naming and describing the
details of a covered bridge; A Bridge Truss section, explaining how trusses work with drawings of the several
trusses used in Vermont; The Bridge Builders, providing thumbnail biographies of the people who designed
and built the bridges; A Covered Bridge Reading List,
for bridge and history buffs who want to read more; A
detailed Index. Spanning Time: Vermont's Covered Bridges: 7" x 10",
288 pages. Published by New England Press at P.O. Box
575, Shelburne, VT 05482
Spanning Time is available directly from the author for
$39.00, free shipping - http:// www.vermontbridges.com/
special%20070514.htm Also see: http://
www.vermontbridges.com/bookreviews.htm.

Waitsfield, Vt., September 23, 2010 - The Waitsfield
Select Board held a hearing to discuss repairs to the
bridge, its current condition, and how to best use a
$270,000 state grant to improve the bridge. The state
grant is a matching grant towards which the town contributed 20 percent, or $54,000.
It was disclosed that there are several problems
with the bridge that impact its stability. The sidewalk is
cantilevered off the north side of the bridge and that is
causing the bridge to twist/list to the north.
The sidewalk may be moved, supported differently, counterbalanced, or removed. Among several other issues, it was the issue of removing the sidewalk that
generated the most comments from those present and via
email.
[Our thanks to Irene Barna for sending this article to us - Ed.]

Charlotte Studies Options to Repair Bridge
WGN 45-04-03

Charlotte, Vt. January 12, 2011 - Vermont Agency of
Transportation officials presented ideas at Monday's
Charlotte Select board meeting that they hope will help
resolve the dilemma presented by the deteriorating Quinlan covered bridge.
Repair of the 87-foot-long bridge spanning
Lewis Creek must conform to Federal Highway Administration guidelines and the Vermont Historic Covered
Bridge Preservation Plan administered by Vermont's
Agency of Transportation.
Mark Colgan of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
of North Ferrisburgh is a consulting engineer working
with the state. He described the three possibilities considered by the state Historic Bridge Preservation Commit-
tee: Option 0ne would retain the steel girders installed in
1985, reinforce deteriorating, bracing and connections
and replace the bridge’s top chord. Option two would
remove the steel girders to return the bridge to its original configuration and add reinforcements to many parts,
and option three would isolate the load borne by the
trusses from that supported by the floor beams. All three
would include rehabilitative work on timbers
The 86-foot Quinlan Bridge was built in 1849 to
cross Lewis Creek using a multiple king post truss with
Burr arch.
[Our thanks to Tom Keating and Richard Hiscock for
forwarding this article - Ed.]

For everyone who has been so supportive of the newly
established Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource
Center, you will be very pleased to hear that the Center is
ready to officially open and there is much excitement in
the air!
In honor of this event, the Board of Directors of the
Oxford Memorial Library will be hosting a grand opening of the Center in conjunction with a 200th anniversary
celebration of the house that Burr built. Although plans
for the event are still being finalized, here are a few highlights of the day’s activities: Reception and tour of the
Center and Library, covered bridge sales tables by various covered bridge societies, covered bridge presentation
on NY’s Covered Bridges, chicken BBQ, and an exciting
program with guest speakers and special presentations.
One particular highlight of the day will be one very special guest whose identity will not be released until the
day of the event. As plans begin to finalize, we will keep
you posted on more details of the event. But meanwhile,
be sure to mark Saturday, July 2nd on your calendars and
plan on joining us for the opening of the new Center. It
is an event you won’t want to miss!
(Editor's note — more information will be in the Summer
Issue of the Bridger)

Covered bridge stitchery – 12/8/2010
Hi Joe, I live in western Canada. Last night I saw a
documentary on repairing covered bridges. In 2006 and
2009 we visited your beautiful state and enjoyed touring
some of your bridges. I would like to stitch (preferably
cross) a bridge or two but am having a difficult time
finding a pattern book, kit, or even one pattern. Perhaps
someone in your society would know where I can get a
lead on a catalogue of stitchery patterns. If so, I would
appreciate it. Thank you. – Cheryle, Regina, SK, Canada

* * *

Hi All; Can anyone help Cheryle? – Joe

Cross stitch pattern – 12/31/2010

Season's Greetings, Joe! Several weeks ago, I set out on
a quest for a covered bridge cross stitch pattern. On im-
pulse I decided to contact you as I hoped there might be
one person who would be able to give me an idea
of where to turn. I must admit, I wasn't very positive as I
had tried to contact some local commercial places with
no response. How pleasantly surprised I was that I re-
ceived so many hints from your call. I hope I replied to
each of them to thank them for taking the time to give
me their suggestions.
I did follow one of the leads and now have what
for me is perfect - an autumn covered bridge cross stitch
kit! I'm looking forward to getting busy on it in the New
Year.
Again, thanks, Joe, for taking my request seri-
ously, and to all who replied with ideas. All the best to
you and the members of your society in 2011. Cheryle
Regina,SK Canada

* * *

Irene Mele - Thanks Joe for relaying Cheryle's thank you
message. There is just something about a community
spirit where everyone cares about everyone else! You
have that. May God bless you this New Year!

* * *

From Joe to all: The Vermont Covered Bridge Society
membership has the community spirit. You all certainly
proved it. Many thanks.

The Vermont Covered Bridge Society has set up a lending library available to all Society members-in-good
standing through media mail.
Librarian Warren Tripp has created a detailed
booklist complete with a description and critique of each
book. Copies of the index are available by mail, or you
may contact Warren Tripp at fftwbt@yahoo.com, or Joe
Nelson at jcnelson@together.net for a PDF copy.
To borrow a book contact Warren Tripp who
will send the book by Postal Service Media Mail. Books
are returned the same way. Send Warren the complete
title of the book(s) you wish to borrow. He will respond
with the mailing cost and mail the order when the fee is
received. The borrower is then responsible to return the
item(s) in a reasonable time, preferably not more than
two months.
Contact: Warren Tripp, P. O. Box 236, Groton,
VT 05046, Phone (802) 584-3545

Pulp Mill Bridge, also known as Paper Mill Bridge,
crosses Otter Creek between Middlebury and Weybridge,
above a dam and in the midst of an area of former indus-
trial activity, now primarily an area of moderate residen-
tial and commercial development.
The road from Middlebury center through the
bridge and on northerly is the route of the former
Waltham Turnpike, and it has sometimes been erroneously stated that the turnpike company built the bridge.
Waltham Turnpike Company was chartered
in1805 to build a turnpike road from the Court House in
Middlebury to the Court House in Vergennes. The turnpike was completed by 1808, except for a bridge in Mid-
dlebury. The company sought and received permission to
use public roads and an existing town bridge in Middlebury, with the provision that the company would build
their own bridge within 12 years and return to its original
location.
Alterations to the route were made in 1816, and
it might be assumed that the company had built a bridge
at that time. In 1821 all the roads in Middlebury except
half a bridge and a mile of road in Weybridge was surrendered to the public, and in 1828 the entire turnpike
was made a free road, under the jurisdiction of the various Towns.
Since all of the early turnpike companies were
only marginally financed, it can be assumed that the turnpike bridge was built as quickly and
cheaply as possible. According to the Internet site www.lostbridges.org an early covered
bridge at this site was built in the 1820s (probably the second bridge) and replaced with the pre-
sent bridge in 1853. This is likely correct, as a notice in the Middlebury Register of December 29,
1852 by the Selectmen of Middlebury and Weybridge request bids for a new covered bridge at
Paper Mill Village.
The present bridge is a double-barreled structure
with three multiple kingpost trusses, center and two
sides, and extends almost 200 feet across Otter Creek.
The bridge, originally a single span Burr truss, was built
with some serious design flaws in the attachment of the
kingpost elements of the truss to the lower chords, and
since its construction has been subject to almost constant repairs. However the bridge may have
been built as a multiple kingpost truss with segmented
Burr arches added after construction.
The first major alterations to the bridge were
done soon after it was built, with the removal of the Burr segmented arches and replacement
with the four present laminated arches, the side arches reaching to the eaves and the center
reaching nearly to the ridge of the roof.
Around a century later two equidistant piers
were built, which essentially changed the bridge to three
spans. This also required changing the direction of half
of the compression members of the truss in the two end
spans. However neither of these steps addressed the
original error in the seating of the truss members in the
lower chord. Subsequent repairs have been almost ongoing, including some major work done in the 1980s which
exacerbated the bridge’s problems and had to be undone.
The bridge was closed in 2002 while some of the remaining 1980 .fixes. were undone and repairs made to lower
chords.
At this time plans are in the works for a major
repair to the bridge which will involve closing it for a
year and correcting many of the deficiencies from the
original construction and subsequent repairs. This may
be carried out in 2011.
The road is heavily traveled, and is one of only
two bridges across Otter Creek near Middlebury center.
The bridge has been on the National Register of Historic
Places since 1974. Otter Creek drops about 40 feet
in elevation as it passes through Middlebury, and mill
sites along the river date back to the late 1700s. Beside
the usual sawmill and grist mill of the early settlement,
numerous other businesses have at various times built or
operated mills along the creek; an ashery (for potash),
woolen mills, an iron furnace and associated operations,
marble sawing, and more. The Green Mountain Pulp
Company built a pulp mill by the bridge in 1883,
on the site of a former paper mill, from these the name of
the bridge derives.

Three Mile Bridge, Middlebury, 45-01-15x
Three Mile Bridge, so named because it was
about 3 miles from Middlebury Center, was a lattice
truss bridge which crossed Otter Creek below the en-
trance of the Middlebury River. The road was originally
laid out and a bridge built around 1800. Because there
was little use of the road and bridge, the Selectmen in
1815 voted to discontinue both.
In 1822 some of the residents of the area peti-
tioned for a new bridge and to repair the road to Cornwall. This was not done until so ordered by the Courts at
the end of 1824. The covered bridge, known as Three
Mile Bridge, was built in 1836. By 1859 the bridge was
sagging, and in the summer of 1859 or the following year
laminated arches were added to the trusses.
Again by the 1950s the bridge was sagging seriously, and was closed and condemned by the Selectmen.
In August 1954 the bridge burned, a result of arson.
Since around 2004 there have been efforts made to raise
funds to build a new bridge at the same location. The
terrain around the site of Three Mile Bridge is flood
plain, flat and swampy. There is some agricultural use of
the land in the area, but few buildings. The roads in the
area are subject to flooding during spring runoff and periods of heavy rainfall. Replacement of a bridge in this
location is not a high priority at this time.

New acquisition to the archives: We have received an
extensive collection of Kodacolor prints of covered
bridges throughout New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, taken between the late 1980s and mid-1990s.
Most photographs were taken by Marjorie Bettis, some
by Jean Garren. The collection was given by Ms Garren
in memory of Ms Bettis. There are an estimated 1500
photographs. More on this collection in the summer
Bridger. We have been going through the pictures to identify each one during the past several
weeks. All will be re-housed in archival quality enclosures.

Bridge News: The Gilbertville Covered Bridge between
Hardwick, Worcester County and Ware, Hampshire
County was reopened in October after being closed for
more than eight years. The bridge is a lattice truss, about
150 feet long, and was built in1887 and is listed on the
National Register.

Richard Sanders Allen’s classic Covered bridges of the
Northeast was reprinted in soft cover in 2004 by Dover Publications. I first saw it in a local bookstore only a few weeks ago. It sells locally for $8.95.

Ron Bechard, Adopt-a-bridge person for the Cambridge Junction Bridge, upon hearing that the bridge
had been damaged, surveyed the scene then forwarded a newspaper article and a battery of photos
to Bridge-watch Coordinator, John Weaver.
The base of the brace in the fifth panel from
the Route 15 end on the downstream side was found
broken off. There is also severe damage to the timber curbing.
Local authorities believe the damage was
done sometime in October just before the bridge
was closed for the season when a vehicle jumped
the curb.
The Cambridge Select Board is reported to
be studying the problem. According to the News &
Citizen of Morrisville, Vt., the board has received
bids from Blow and Cote Inc. and CCS Constructors, LLC.
In addition to the repair of the brace, the tim-
ber curb may be replaced with higher curbs. The
curbs were found damaged in the same manner at
the bridge portals last winter.
It was also reported that a Vermont State Police Investigation into who damaged the bridge resulted in no leads or suspects
The 153-foot Cambridge Junction Bridge,
also known as the Poland Bridge, was built in 1887
by George Washington Holmes to cross the
Lamoille River in a single span using a multiple
king post truss with Burr arch. The bridge was restored in 2004.

February 23, 2011 - Repairs have been completed to the Mt.
Orne Bridge in Lancaster, NH. The bridge was damaged as a
result of truck collision damage when an oversized tractor
trailer drove through the bridge on May 26, 2010. Damage
was caused to the upper lateral bracing, truss chords and portal
siding.
The bridge was closed by the Town of Lancaster, the
bridge owner, on the recommendation of the NHDOT.
Through their insurance carrier, the New Hampshire Property-
Liability Trust, the Town hired the consulting engineering firm
of Dubois & King, Inc. to evaluate the damage and outline
steps to initiate repairs to the bridge. Barnes & Bridges of New
England was selected by the Town as the contractor to make
the repairs.
"The upper later bracing and some truss chords took
some very big truck hits," says Robert H. Durfee, P.E., Vice
President for Dubois & King. "Repairs were initiated that preserved as much of the original bridge fabric as possible."
"We tested the existing timber used on the bridge, and
found it to be Southern Pine. We installed all replacement
members and truss repairs using Southern Pine Dense Select
Structural Grade," said Tim Andrews, President of Barns &
Bridges.
The bridge remains closed and barricade to vehicle
and pedestrian traffic. Field observations by the NHDOT and
Dubois & King discovered decay (rot) in the truss connections
(compression members) and up to 4. of sag in the trusses on
the Vermont side. It was determined that these problems were
not caused by the truck collision. The Town will keep the
bridge closed until repairs to the trusses can be made. The
Town is currently seeking grant monies to perform a complete
rehabilitation of the Mt. Orne Bridge.
The Mt. Orne Bridge was constructed in 1911 using
Howe type trusses. It is a two span structure, with an overall
length of 266 feet. It spans the Connecticut River and connects
Lancaster, New Hampshire with Lunenburg, Vermont.

Please join me in welcoming new members to our group:
Stewart and Dorothy Read of Bellows Falls, VT, a warm
welcome to you!
And now, our Early Renewal Contest. Many
thanks to each of you who mailed your membership dues
on time. As in years past, the drawing was done by Ruth
Nelson's first grade reading group at the Jericho Elementary school. (The little rascals have fun doing it.
Here are the prizes for this year's contest: A two
year free membership to the VCBS or a signed copy of
Spanning Time, Vermont's Covered Bridges by Joe Nelson, or the cost of the book to the VCBS ( $30).
The winners are: James Crouse of Fort Wayne,
IN, and John Murphy of Medford, MA. Congratulations
to you both, and thank you for your membership.